News & Views

Natural protein folding takes place in aqueous cell environments. Now, it has been found that proteins in a water-free environment undergo faster and more efficient folding.

Surface heterogeneities lead to friction between droplets and solid surfaces, limiting the performance of the latter in a number of applications. A combination of friction force measurements and atomistic molecular dynamics simulations now sheds light on the influence of molecular scale heterogeneities on droplet friction.

Biological and synthetic catalysts often utilize iron in high oxidation states (+IV and greater) to perform challenging molecular transformations. A coordination complex featuring an Fe(VII) ion has now been synthesized through sequential oxidations of nonheme iron–nitrido precursors.

Chiral amines possessing a stereogenic carbon atom bearing three carbon substituents and one nitrogen substituent are challenging structural motifs to prepare enantioselectively. Now, such motifs have been accessed in high enantiopurities by asymmetric Cu-catalysed propargylic amination using sterically confined ligands.

Expansion of the genetic code can enable precise manipulation of proteins through selective functionalization of specific residues. Now, control of tryptophan interactions in proteins can be established by encoding of a vinyl-caged tryptophan analogue that can be selectively decaged to rescue protein activity.

Single-particle cryo-electron microscopy and all-atom molecular dynamics simulations provide atomic details of ATP hydrolysis in the multimeric enzyme p97.

Electrocatalytic transformations often involve the concerted transfer of electrons and protons at electrode interfaces; however, these processes are not well understood. Now, experiments on an electrode that features well-defined molecular sites deepen fundamental understanding of such transfers to pave the way for future catalysts.

Replicating the ability of enzymes and transport proteins to effectively bind anions is a considerable challenge for supramolecular chemists. A neutral organic cage has now been developed that selectively binds sulfate anions in water.

Molecules containing a chiral S(VI) moiety have found extensive applications in drug design and organic synthesis, despite a lack of diverse asymmetric methods for their creation. Now, a ligand-mediated process has enabled the production of enantioenriched S(VI)–F motifs, providing a foundation for further stereospecific elaborations.

Cryptic halogenation reactions result in natural products with diverse structural motifs and bioactivities. However, these halogenated species are difficult to detect with current analytical methods because the final products are often not halogenated. An approach to identify products of cryptic halogenation using halide depletion has now been discovered, opening up space for more effective natural product discovery.

Interlocking unstable motifs is a useful way to enhance their stability through shielding protection. Now, stable interlocked polyynes bearing several macrocycles have been prepared, including a [5]rotaxane having 34 contiguous alkynes with properties similar to those of carbyne.

Despite the growing clinical use of radium in cancer treatments, the fundamental chemistry of nature’s largest +2 cation remains largely unexplored. Now, structural analysis of a radium complex reveals that its behaviour cannot always be predicted from the chemistry of its closest nonradioactive congener, barium.

Directional interactions and three-dimensional functional groups are crucial to medicinal compounds. Consequently, new functional groups require stereocontrolled synthetic methods. Now, an enantiopure building block provides controlled and divergent access to valuable sulfonimidoyl functional groups.

Tetracoordinate boron molecules are the key intermediates in many organoboron-related chemical transformations. Now, using alkynyl tetracoordinate boron species, a nickel-catalysed asymmetric 1,3-metallate shift towards axial chirality has been developed, giving access to various axially chiral alkenes in high efficiency.

Liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) within cells is a captivating phenomenon known to aid the organization of cellular components; however, its complex kinetics have remained a puzzle. Now, a new study elucidates the crosstalk between the phase state of an encapsulating membrane and LLPS dynamics.

As the need for specific fluorescent probes that enable high sensitivity and super-resolution imaging experiments continues to grow, it is imperative to develop new, well-characterized methods to modulate the emission of fluorophores. Now, a general platform affords visible-to-NIR fluorogenic fluorophores by engineering a simple cyclization event into cyanine dyes.

The study of disordered materials poses numerous challenges, and computational approaches have proved useful to supplement and support structural experiments. Now, an abstract computational model has been used to study the structure of amorphous calcium carbonate, providing mechanistic insights into the emergence of the disordered phase as well as its atomic-level configurations.

Fluoroalkyl fragments are ubiquitous motifs in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, but their introduction to a given molecule typically involves expensive or difficult-to-handle reagents. Now, the photocatalysed hydrofluoroalkylation of alkenes has been achieved using simple and readily available fluoroalkyl carboxylic acids.

Stereoselective decarboxylative protonation can produce diverse chiral molecules from widely available carboxylic acids. However, general and practical strategies are lacking. Now, a chiral spirocyclic phosphoric acid-catalysed decarboxylation of aminomalonic acids has enabled the modular synthesis of α-amino acids.